SIGHTSEEING TOURS

We offer the following tours:

Tour to Polotsk

Tour of the Rossony district

Tour to Vitebsk

Tour to Polotsk

A patriarch city, a town of chroniclers, the birthplace of St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Vseslav the Magician, Francysk Skaryna, a giant of Belarusian history, an unexplored and unsolved mystery. Many relics of Polotsk have survived to our time through the tumultuous events in the life of its population. The history of this city is connected to the unusual fate of Princess Rogneda and Prince Vseslav the Magician, nun-educator Euphrosyne of Polotsk, Simeon of Polotsk, printing pioneer Francis Skorina.

You will visit the so-called Upper Castle, a place where in the X century the Polotsk Citadel emerged—the administrative center of the ancient city, surrounded by rivers and deep ditches, impregnable at those times. You will see the St. Sophia Cathedral—the Cathedral of Polotsk built by Byzantine architects in XI-XII centuries as a symbol of equality of Polotsk and the Second Rome, Constantinople, and the rivalry with the great Russian cities of Kiev and Novgorod. After visiting the museum you’ll go down into the dungeon, and hear a concert of organ music. Near the cathedral there is a unique monument of writing the XII century—Borisov stone, scientists still have not obtained consensus about the inscription on the stone. Some believe that the inscription was made on an ancient pagan boulder as a symbol of the new religion—Christianity; others associate it with the locust years of 1127-1128; others believe the stones are the monuments for the Prince Boris.

You will also visit the Spaso-Euphrosyne monastery, a recognized center of the Belarusian Orthodox Church and spirituality. Here you can come up to venerate the relics of St. Euphrosyne and the Holy Cross. Spaso-Euphrosyne monastery is one of the first female Orthodox monasteries in Russia, founded in the XII century by St. Euphrosyne of Polotsk. The jewel of the monasteryis the Spaso-Euphrosyne Church with unique frescoes of the XII century. One of the most precious relics of the monastery is the famous Cross of Saint Euphrosyne, created in 1161 by goldsmith Lazar Bogsha (the cross disappeared during the war, and the monastery now has its replica). This cross and the relics of the patron saint became an object of worship of thousands of pilgrims that arrive in Polotsk each year.

By prior request we arrange corporate tours to such museums as the Museum-Library of Simeon of Polotsk, Polotsk Military Hall of Fame, Polotsk Museum of History of Architecture at the Sophia Cathedral. The buildings of the ancient Theology monastery host the exposition of the Polotsk Belarusian Museum of Bookprinting. The museum is dedicated to the history of books, from the first hand-written scrolls to contemporary books, and introduces visitors to the history of writing, stationery, and book illustration. It is the only museum of this type in Belarus.

Tour of the Rossony district

Arriving to the Jankovicy village. Meeting with a guide. Rossony was first mentioned in 1552 as part of the Polotsk Province of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. Here you will see traces of ancient history: thousand-years old burial mounds and settlements strewn over the Rossony land, mysterious stone crosses with the pagan symbols of the sun cult and boulders that are still revered by local people. You can listen to the echoes of the past kept in legends and stories that the locals will tell you. The Rossony folk is welcoming and hospitable, simple, good and bright people, with an open heart and pure souls, as the nature around them. You will also pay a visit to the famous folk groups “Krynica”, who will take you on a fascinating journey into the world of Belarusian national traditions with jokes, rhymes and cheerful games. National Belarusian treat with Rasony flavor will surely impress gourmets and fans of good food.

History of the Rossony region is a history of Belarus itself. You will get to know it on tour to the urban village Rossony. It’s a small town with impressive cultural history and great military glory. You will see amazing architectural monuments, you will be told about the origins and entanglements of religious life. Construction of palaces and manor complexes was popular in Belarus in the second half of the XVIII-XIX centuries. One of these monuments of architecture is the landlord Glazko’s manor. The castle was built in 1900 in the Gothic style and is located on the shores of the Lake Rosson. Unlike Western Catholic provinces, Orthodox religious buildings prevailed in the Rossony land. Unfortunately, most of them was destroyed, leaving only the Holy Ascension Church, a sample of architecture which has undergone many transformations and reconstructions. The church was built in 1879 from local quarry stone in retrospective Russian style, which was characterized by an almost complete negation of any complex decoration. The symbol of Catholicism in Rossony area is a Catholic church, the Church of St. Josaphat Kuntsevych.

One of the saddest pages in the history of Rossony is the Great Patriotic War. After the war, the population decreased by half (!). The area was one big guerrilla zone. The military monuments and museums cherish the memory of those who died. The Museum of Military Cooperation was opened here for a reason. Friendship between Russian, Belarusian, Latvian and Lithuanian peoples has deep historical roots. Exposition of the Museum of Military Cooperation can tell you much about this fighting commonwealth. Materials and documents will introduce you to the heroic acts of Soviet soldiers in defensive battles in the north-west of Belarus, and the heroic episodes of the Second World War, where the natives of the Rossony district took part. A separate room is dedicated to the prominent party and state leader, the head of the underground work, the Hero of the Soviet Union, Hero of Socialist Labor Pyotr Masherov, born in the Rossony district. On the platform in front of the museum, there is an exhibition of heavy weapons of the Red Army used during World War II.

Names of many famous personalities in the history of Belarus, Russia and Slavic culture in general are associated with the Rossony district. The estate of Francis Skaryna was located here. Vice Admiral Hilarion Povalishin was granted an estate in these lands for a victory over the Swedish squadron in 1790. This is homeland of the writer Jan Borshevsky. Our journey continues. The road leads us through the thick forest to the open-air Museum of partisan life. In these places, the Second guerrilla front acted here, behind enemy lines, during the Second World War. Here in the vast area a fraternal partisan land was formed. Russians, Belorussians, Latvians and Lithuanians combined their forces to crush the fascist invaders. You will be able to plunge into the atmosphere of the war years in a unique open-air museum, reconstructed on the historical scene. You will find an activity program that will take you back to the actual days of partisan life and make you feel like a participant of those distant events